Songs in the Void

ICDS World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo. 

Due to fatigue, Tatsuo, after leaving the Dungeon, slept for the rest of the day and the whole night. However, when he woke up, he felt completely refreshed. 

"*Sigh* It's been a while since I felt like I got any stronger." Tatsuo said after sitting up and stretching his body. Then, he climbed out of bed and threw a few punches into the air as he continued. "I can move my body a little more fluidly, too." 

After testing his upgraded body for a while, Tatsuo stopped to think about what he would do today. 

"Well, I definitely don't wanna go to the Dungeon today." Tatsuo thought aloud. "I do wanna see if I can make new weapons out of those Bee parts, though. Maybe upgrade my body suit, too." 

*Smack!* 

Reaching that point, Tatsuo punched his right hand into his left palm while frowning slightly. 

"Damn, I don't have any of my crafting tools here." Tatsuo said to himself. "I didn't have enough room in my [Inventory] before I left, so I left it at home. *Sigh* I guess I will have to go to the Dungeon if I wanna start working with that stuff." 

Just at the thought of going back to the Dungeon after fighting almost non-stop for three days made Tatsuo slump his shoulders. Even if he would not be going there to fight . Still, he decided to move on from that depressing thought and continued planning out his day. 

"I guess I can check out some of the nearby shrines, too…" Tatsuo thought to himself "Minami-San might be close by. I mean, it was never mentioned where she lived in the novel. But that would be some kind of lucky coincidence if I could find her so close by. Not that I need to get close to her anymore." 

With a shrug, Tatsuo stepped towards his bathroom. Before he did anything, he needed to clean himself up. Last night, after returning from the Dungeon, he dove straight into bed after taking off his body suit and clothes. Without a shower, no less. 

An hour later, Tatsuo had showered, brushed his teeth, and thrown his body suit in the washing machine. Then, he had a quick breakfast before he left the apartment to start scoping out the shrines around the area. And to his surprise, he found one that could be a hit, immediately. 

After climbing the stairs leading to a fairly well-known shrine in the area, Tatsuo came across a young woman sweeping the shrine grounds. This young woman was beautiful. Not some kind of nation toppling beauty, but beautiful, nonetheless. She was also pretty short, probably about eighteen years old, standing at 5'3" with black hair pulled into a ponytail and grey highlights. She also had a pair of bright green eyes that shined like emeralds. On top of that, she had quite the voluptuous figure for a girl her size. 

When Tatsuo caught sight of the young woman, she also noticed someone reaching the top of the stairs. At first, when she noticed the visitor was a boy, she shrank back momentarily. However, when she saw Tatsuo's handsome face and bright purple eyes, she fell into a daze. 

'That's definitely her. I can feel her mana from here.' Tatsuo thought to himself after seeing the girl who matched the description in the novel. 'What kinda luck is this to hit the jackpot on the first try? Anyway, I need to figure out how to get her to let her guard down. The question is… How?' 

In actuality, Tatsuo's starting location had been chosen carefully for his first mission. So, even if he had not chosen to receive the memories for this mission, he would have still been able to find this shrine quite easily. 

While the young woman, Minami Violet Sumire was in a daze, Tatsuo took the time to think up a strategy. Then, after a few seconds, his eyes lit up as if he just had an epiphany. 

'This should probably work.' Tatsuo thought to himself. It was mentioned that Sumire began learning martial arts from her father. Unfortunately, he passed away before she was introduced. And it had been a year since then when she was first introduced. Meaning, right now, about eight months should have passed since then. Actually… Now that I think about it, I feel a little dirty for bringing up her deceased father.' 

Shaking his head internally, Tatsuo pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. Then, he opened his mouth to speak. 

"Hi, I'm Soramoto Tatsuo." Tatsuo said, introducing himself with a smile. "I heard there was a master martial artist living at this shrine. I was hoping to test myself against him, to see how I stack up to a master." 

Hearing that, Sumire snapped out of her daze. Then, after registering what Tatsuo said, her shoulders slumped slightly before she replied to Tatsuo's inquiry. 

"I'm afraid that is not possible, Soramoto-San." Sumire said in a downcast tone. "I'm certain you must be referring to my father. But he unfortunately passed away less than a year ago." 

Showing a surprised expression for a moment, Tatsuo quickly changed it to a regretful one. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." Tatsuo replied in a guilty tone. "I had no idea." 

"No, you have nothing to apologize for." Sumire replied while shaking her head lightly. "By the way, my name is Minami Violet Sumire. It's nice to meet you." 

"Likewise." Tatsuo replied. 

With that, the shrine grounds fell into silence. However, Sumire, who was not good with dealing with boys, eventually mustered the courage to ask a question. 

"So… Um… If I may ask, how did you know about my father?" Sumire asked while fidgeting nervously. "I mean, although he was a master martial artist, he was not well known. Most people didn't even know he practiced martial arts. 

"Oh, I heard about him from my parents." Tatsuo replied, making up a story on the spot. "You see, they ran a dojo. Unfortunately, when the second moon appeared, they were killed in a plane crash caused by a wyvern." 

"*Gasp* I'm sorry to hear that." Sumire said in a shocked tone. 

"Don't worry about it." Tatsuo said while waving dismissively. "Anyway, since I want to keep the dojo going, I have to improve my skills. And since your father was the closest martial arts master I knew about, I came to see if he would spar with me… But I guess that's impossible." 

"I see." Sumire replied in an understanding tone. Then, she raised her fists in front of her chest as she continued with a smile. "I'm sure you'll be able to do it, Soramoto-San. You just have to believe in yourself and never give up." 

"Thanks. I'll do my best." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "Anyway, I won't keep bothering you, Minami-San. So, I'll be on my way." 

With that, Tatsuo turned around to leave. Then, after taking a few steps, Sumire's voice stopped him in his tracks. 

"Um… Well… You see.." Sumire stuttered. However, as she liked to help people and she was genuinely hoping that Tatsuo would be able to achieve his goal, she firmed her resolve and continued. "I may not be a master martial artist, but if you're looking for someone to spar with, I might be able to help." 

Hearing that, Tatsuo looked back over his shoulder. And when he saw the expression on Sumire's face, his guilty feeling reappeared. However, he once again pushed it to the back of his mind. 

"Are you sure?" Tatsuo asked in a concerned tone. "I might only be fifteen, but before my father died, he said I was on the verge of mastering my martial arts, and the only thing left to do was make the style my own. So, you could get really hurt if you were to spar with me." 

Although most of what Tatsuo said was a lie, it was true that his father really told him how proud of his progress in martial arts he was. And what he said about his father in his memories saying he was close to becoming a master, was true. 

Sumire was gob smacked about the things she just heard. First, the fact that Tatsuo was only fifteen. He was 6' tall and had a body filled with compact muscle. His body was nothing like that of a kid in their mid-teenage years. And second, the fact that he was close to being recognized as a master martial artist. Still, that was not enough to change her decision. 

"Yes, I'm sure." Sumire said while nodding her head resolutely. "You don't have to worry about me, Soramoto-San. My body is really quite strong. Plus, I've been practicing martial arts for years. So, I can take care of myself." 

'Plus, there's no way a normal person could hurt me.' Sumire thought confidently. 'I've been climbing the Dungeon for more than a year and a half by now. And I'm already on the sixteenth floor. So, I'm definitely stronger than an average human. The only way he would be able to hurt me is if he were an Awakened. But I can't feel any mana from him. So, it should be impossible that he's an Awakened.' 

Just as she said, Sumire was a Dungeon Explorer, as well. However, she was a Second Dungeon Explorer. Unlike Tatsuo, who was a First Dungeon Explorer. Although with every Floor she climbed, she leveled up and received Stat Points, as well, the Second Dungeon was lower in difficulty than the First Dungeon. Meaning, the rewards she received for certain achievements were worse by comparison. 

Then again, Tatsuo was only on the Third Floor. On top of that, he had not made any achievements as of now. So, he was undoubtedly still weaker than Sumire. But he was fairly certain he could overwhelm her with technique alone, if he had to. 

"Well, if you're sure, let's exchange contact information." Tatsuo replied as he turned around. Then, as he walked towards Sumire and pulled his smartphone out of his pocket, he continued. "I actually only came here to see if I could set up an appointment for a spar. I have a few things to take care of after this. So, we can have our spar another day, if that's okay with you." 

"That's fine." Sumire replied with a nod. Though, she stiffened slightly as Tatsuo drew near. "Hold on, I'll go get my phone." 

With that, Sumire ran into the shrine, in a slight panic, to retrieve her phone. And when she returned, she exchanged numbers with Tatsuo before the two said goodbye, with Tatsuo going on his way while Sumire returned to cleaning the shrine. 

Not long later, after stopping to pick up something to eat along the way, Tatsuo returned to his apartment. He was pleased with how things went. Though, he did feel a bit guilty about lying to an innocent girl like Sumire. 

'I'll make it up to her later.' Tatsuo thought to himself as he prepared to enter the Dungeon. 'I'll tell her the truth one day, too. Though, I'll probably sound like a lunatic when I tell her that I read about her in a novel in my past life. Whatever… I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.' 

With that thought, Tatsuo finished the food he brought home with him. Then, he entered the Dungeon. When he did, he came face to face with Loretta's puppet, who put on a professional smile as soon as she saw him 

"Good afternoon, Customer-Sama." Loretta said. "I'm glad to see you're doing well. I'll admit, after seeing the way you looked before you left last night, I was a bit worried." 

"Yeah, I'm good." Tatsuo replied with a smile. "nothing a good night's sleep couldn't take care of. But actually, I have a question for you, Miss." 

"Oh, what might that be?" Loretta asked while tilting her head. "I'd be happy to answer any question you might have. Though, depending on the question, the answer might cost you quite the sum of Gold." 

Knowing that Loretta was dead serious about her claim, Tatsuo only shook his head. However, he also knew that on top of costing him quite the sum of Gold, He might also end up having his HP reduced to zero and being kicked out of the Dungeon for a week if he asked a question he should not. 

That's right, although it was not previously mentioned, dying in the Dungeon does not equal true death. However, the penalty for dying is a weeklong respawn time. And because he did not want to be in this world any longer than he needed to be, Tatsuo wanted to avoid dying at all, if at all possible. 

"I was wondering if you sold tools for processing the dropped monster parts at the Floor Shop." Tatsuo said. "I mean, I wanted to see if I could make use of all those Bee Stingers and Bee Carapaces in my Inventory." 

The only reason Tatsuo was asking Loretta about the tools he needed was because he could not access the [System's] [Shop] while he was on a mission. That was actually the first thing he tried to do after arriving. Since he could not bring his crafting tools with him, he thought to get new ones while he was here. Unfortunately, that was impossible. 

 The day after arriving in this world, he also noticed that the daily Coin drawing was disabled, too. However, he was not sure if that was because he was in another world or because he was on a mission. He did make a note to find out if he was ever able to travel to other worlds when not on missions, though. 

"Actually, we do!" Loretta said enthusiastically. Then, she pulled out four items from behind the counter, a hammer, a porcelain bottle, a pack of, what appeared to be, sand paper, and a stone. "Might I interest you in the Monstersmith Hammer, the Monstersmith Adhesive, the Monstersmith Sanders, and the Magical Wet Stone? With this Hammer, you'll be able to hammer down and compress manaless monster material as if they were chunks of iron. And the best thing about it, you don't need any fire." 

As she introduced the Monstersmith Hammer, Loretta raised it gently with a dazzling smile on her face. A moment later, she repeated the process with the other two items while explaining their effects. 

The Monstersmith Adhesive basically replaced any welding or need for bolts, as it could perfectly adhere any manaless monster parts together, provided they fit snuggly together. The Monstersmith Sanders were for sanding off any excess, making it possible to adhere pieces together. And lastly, the Magical Wet Stone was used for equipment repair. Because rubbing a piece of equipment on it, whether it be a weapon, armor, or accessory, restored durability, as long as the durability could be restored. 

"Each item is 400 Gold." Loretta said once her explanation of the items uses had concluded. "But if you buy them all, I can sell the whole set for only 1,500 Gold. That's quite the great deal, wouldn't you say, Customer-Sama?" 

Hearing about this "great deal," Tatsuo could only shake his head internally. If he bought all three items, he would have to say goodbye to more than seventy-five percent of the gold he earned over the last three and a half days. He would be able to make it back soon enough, though. Since he planned on fighting the Fifth Floor Boss, which dropped 1,000 Gold, by himself when he reached it. 

"*Sigh* I guess I'll take them." Tatsuo said as he pulled 1,500 Gold out of his [Inventory]. 

"Wonderful." Loretta replied happily as she accepted the gold. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, customer-Sama." 

"I'm sure it was." Tatsuo muttered as he put the four items he just bought into his [Inventory]. "Well then, I'll see you later. I've got some experimenting to do." 

With that, Tatsuo waved to Loretta. Then, he left the Dungeon. And for the rest of the day, he experimented with using the Bee Stingers and Carapaces to make new daggers and add some defense to his body suit. And just as the durability of the hammer and the wet stone ran out, and he used up all the adhesive and sand paper, he finally made a pair of daggers he was satisfied with and completed the upgrades to his body suit.